Start by not buying stuff that you don’t need. It sounds simple, but it’s true: If you aren’t buying things you don’t need, then you won’t have to throw them away later.
Start by not buying stuff that you don’t need. It sounds simple, but it’s true: If you aren’t buying things you don’t need, then you won’t have to throw them away later.
If your house or apartment is overflowing with items and there’s nowhere left for you to put them, it means one of two things: either (a) the people who lived in this house before were hoarders or (b) your family has a tendency toward overspending and doesn’t know how to limit its spending habit. Either way, this isn’t an ideal situation. You’re either going to have an unsanitary home filled with rotting food and broken furniture (or possibly dead bodies), or else find yourself strapped for cash because of all the extra expenses associated with having too much stuff in one place—such as rent payments, utilities fees etcetera.
To avoid these scenarios completely, start by taking inventory of everything that currently resides in your home or apartment—and make note whether each item serves a practical purpose (e.g., making food; keeping warm/cool), sentimental value (e.g., holding memories of loved ones), or aesthetic appeal (e.g., making the room look nice). If an item no longer satisfies any of those criteria—or if there are simply too many items crowding each other out—then consider getting rid of it!
Make a shopping list before you go to the store, and stick to it. That way, if it’s not on the list, you don’t have to buy it.
Making a shopping list before you go to the store is one of the most important things you can do to avoid impulse buys. When your cart isn’t filled with items that you’ve pre-planned and researched, it’s much easier to question whether or not they’re necessary. And if they aren’t—if it’s not on the list, then do you really need it? Adding more junk food into your diet won’t make anyone feel better about themselves in the end. So instead of buying something just because it looks good when you’re standing in front of a shelf full of snack foods at Trader Joe’s, why not just wait until next time around?
The best way to get over this mental hurdle is by making sure that your shopping errands are never meant for anything other than buying exactly what’s needed from start to finish; think about how much time goes into planning out what everyone will be eating for dinner tonight (or tomorrow night) before heading out for groceries.
Think about something that every time you use it makes you happy – like a scarf or a mug – and use that as a guide for what to keep in your kitchen.
You’re never going to use them again. The best way to get rid of clutter is by asking yourself if something serves a purpose or makes you happy. If it doesn’t do either, you should toss it.
For example, I recently went through my closet and asked myself whether every item made me happy when I looked at it. Some things had sentimental value—but they were also old and worn out, so I donated them (and bought new versions). Other items didn’t make me feel any particular way—they just took up space in my closet! These got donated as well because they weren’t serving any real purpose for me anymore.
Remember that if you haven’t used it in six months, then there’s a good chance that you probably never will.
There are many different rules for determining when to throw something away, but the most commonly used one is the 6-month rule. This means that if you haven’t used an item in six months, it’s probably time to get rid of it. While this isn’t a hard and fast rule, and there are exceptions (such as seasonal items or things that you don’t use often because of their high cost), it’s a good starting point. You can also try the 5-year rule: If you haven’t used something in five years, then there’s a good chance that you never will.
If neither of these rules seem applicable to your situation, take heart! You can make up your own custom rule based on how long it takes for things to go out of style or become obsolete (e.g., tech) or which items are special enough for someone else who needs them more than yourself (e.g., clothes). In general though—and especially when dealing with sentimental items like toys from childhood—it’s better not to hold onto things forever just because they’re precious; even if they mean something important now doesn’t mean they’ll always do so later down the road!
When thinking about throwing something away, ask yourself whether or not someone else would find this useful. If they wouldn’t, then throw it out!
- If an item is broken, worn out, or otherwise useless to you, then it’s okay to throw it away.
- If no one else would find the item useful and it is not being used by anyone, then it’s okay to throw it away.
- If an object has lost its usefulness for you personally but could still be valuable to someone else (like books), ask yourself if there is a way of repurposing or recycling said object that would save both time and money (“I won’t need this book anymore because I’m finished reading it.” might become “I will donate my copy of this book so others can enjoy reading my favorite author”).
It’s okay to throw things away if they’re not useful anymore, even if they were once expensive.
The truth is that not every item you own has inherent value. In fact, most of the things we buy and hold onto aren’t really worth what we paid for them in the first place. If an item’s usefulness has expired or if it’s no longer useful to you, then there’s no reason to keep it around—even if it was once expensive.
The first step in getting rid of stuff is recognizing that there are only two types of objects: those that provide utility and those that don’t (or haven’t). It doesn’t matter how much they cost or where they came from; if they’re not doing their job anymore, let go!
